CAVENDISH SET FOR WORLDS POINTS RACE

Mark Cavendish is set to ride the points race at the World Track Championships ? plugging the gap left by the injured Chris Newton.

The Isle of Man rider is also scheduled to partner Bradley Wiggins in the Madison as the British look to seal Olympic qualification.

Newton, who clinched the points race title in the World Cup series, crashed in training last week, breaking his collarbone.

Cavendish is the logical replacement, even though the schedule is tight, with the points race taking place on Friday, March 28, and the Madison the following day.

Britain are almost assured of a place in the Madison and only a bizarre combination of events in Manchester can deny them a place in Beijing.

Great Britain has named a strong squad of 23 for the Worlds (March 26-30) and the aim is to be competitive in as many events as possible ? with the emphasis on the Olympic disciplines.

Some non-Olympic races will be a chance to give younger riders a taste of the major championship experience.

One of the fiercest battles is for a place in the men’s team sprint trio. It would now appear that Ross Edgar, Jamie Staff and Chris Hoy will complete that team.

With three places in both the Keirin and sprint, as well as the kilometre competition, there are options for the other sprinters, Matt Crampton, Jason Kenny and David Daniell to impress.

Lizzie Armitstead could ride the points race and the scratch race. Rebecca Romero may get another experience of major bunch racing with an appearance in the points race. Her last run-out in the event was at the Beijing World Cup.

Armitstead, Romero, Jo Rowsell and Wendy Houvenaghel are the four names in the mix for three places in the women’s team pursuit, an event Britain will compete in for the first time in Manchester.

The big three, Victoria Pendleton, Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins, will defend their world titles. Pendleton, who won three golds last year, could even aim to add a fourth with the 500 metre time trial.

Last year, Britain came away from Majorca with seven gold medals. This time, on home soil, and with this the last chance of a serious competitive run-out before the Olympic Games, expectations will be even higher.

The two surprise names in the squad, young sprinters Daniell and Jessica Varnish, will almost certainly get a ride as the British coaches look to take advantage of the chance to enter a large number of riders as the host nation.

MAXIMUM NUMBER OF BRITISH RIDERS

This is how many British entrants can participate each event. In events where Britain has a defending world champion, an extra place is allocated to that rider. If that defending champion does not take the place, it cannot be filled by another rider